Digital Personal Video Recorders

[tell-me-more]

I remember a few years ago the TiVo (manufactured by Thomson, I think) was on sale, but required a subscription.

Now I see that there are "Personal Video Recorders" around that seem to do more or less the same thing.

I'm interested in what they do and what the differences between them, TiVo and Sky+ are.

Which ones require a subscription? Which ones allow me to pause TV, play back a recording before it's finished, transfer recordings onto DVD, programme recordings so that I catch all the episodes of a series etc.

If you have any of these devices/services - what do you think of them?

Also, why can't I use a laptop as a Digital Personal Video Recorder by connecting it to a TV?

[khana]

I have a Tivo and have been a happy user for many years. Its not perfect and I hate paying the monthly fee, but its really easy to use and judging from the complaints I hear from Sky+ users, there are nowhere near the amount of failed recordings and series pass mess ups.
As to using a laptop, of course thats possible and many people do using Windows media edition. The toshiba quisomo laptop springs to mind for a start as one specifically designed for it.